News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

A former Antrim man, who now lives in England with his family, has spoken of his distress at being turned down by Australian immigration because of his autistic child.

Adrian Scott, originally from Brantwood Gardens, lives in Oxfordshire with his wife Julie, son Tevin (19) and daughter Niamh (13).

The couple's twin sons, Stephen and Marc, are both already settled in Australia with their respective families. Julie's parents have also been American citizens for over 20 years.

Scott (47) and his wife always had the intention of moving to Australia once they had completed their family; however, due to Niamh's condition, they have not been allowed move to Australia by immigration authorities.
[Source: Antrim Guardian]
ARMAGH

A 63-year-old Whitecross man has died following an accident at a building site in Monaghan Town.

The fatal accident happened just before noon on Friday, October 12 at a construction site for a new Vocational Education Committee (V.E.C.) campus at Armagh Road in the town.

It is believed a teleporter construction vehicle may have been involved in the accident.

Barry Malone, a well-known father of four from Whitecross, was pronounced dead at the scene, before his remains were removed to Navan General Hospital.
[Source: Examiner Newspaper]
CARLOW

A flock of sheep has been viciously attacked by dogs, their throats ripped out and their bodies left scattered in pieces across a County Carlow field in an appalling act of savagery.

Farmer Andy Keogh, Hill Road, Myshall was horrified to find 13 of his lambs killed in the mauling, several more left horrifically injured, and the entire flock traumatized by the ordeal.

“It’s terrible to see it … the sheep you reared, lying there with their throats ripped out of them. You would be upset by the whole thing,” Mr. Keogh told The Nationalist.
[Source: Carlow Nationalist]
CAVAN

Sean Quinn, Jr. has lost his appeal against his imprisonment for contempt-of-court. The five presiding-judge court will give reasons for its four-to-one majority decision this week.

It comes as a major blow for both Sean, Jr. and his family, who recently saw their father, Sean, Sr. appear before the courts again to face the possibility of imprisonment.

Quinn, Jr. was jailed back in July of this year for three months and would not have completed his sentence until October 20, by which time Ms. Justice Elizabeth Dunne in the High Court was to be satisfied he had, or was prepared to purge his contempt to avoid further imprisonment.
[Source: The Anglo Celt]

CLARE

Clare county councilors have been stripped of their power to direct County Manager Tom Coughlan to make major planning decisions in exceptional cases that may be in contravention of the County Development Plan.

This is just one of the changes, which includes the abolition of the four local town councils in Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush and Kilkee with a combined membership of 36, as part of the most dramatic overhaul of local government in over 100 years. Councilors have been given the thankless task of levying rates for the introduction of a new property tax next year, which looks set to cause major controversy at council meetings.

Although the number of county councilors could be cut from 32 to 24, no decision has been taken on the exact number of members, which will be decided by a new independent statutory committee.
[Source: Clare Champion]
CORK

A Cork-based Facebook page has incurred the wrath of an east Cork community after falsely posting about a fatal accident in the village on the page.

The page, Garda (Police) Checkpoints Cork County, posted two weekends ago that a haulage lorry had overturned on the exit of Ballycotton “by the proddy church.”

The administrator proceeded to name a driver of the lorry in the fictional accident.

What followed was a series of violent and abusive comments directed at people rebuking the administrator of the site for posting a name and an accident that did not occur.
[Source: Cork Independent]
DERRY

Police in Derry have seized a quantity of rockets and fireworks during searches in the city.

The searches were carried out last Tuesday.

Inspector Trevor McKeown says it is vital parents, youth and community leaders help police make the Halloween period safe and fun.

“The weeks prior to and after Halloween are becoming an increasingly busy time of the year for police,” he says.
[Source: Derry Journal]
DONEGAL

Child prodigy, Caolan Fleming, who is Europe’s youngest app developer, is exceptionally proud of his Donegal and Gaoth Dobhair heritage.

Last week, the 11-year old had attracted worldwide attention for his work and had been invited as a guest to the Dublin web summit where he met and greeted the leaders of major global players on the technological market, such as: Twitter, Google and Skype.